“We really like the huge potential of this market; 180 million people, 65 million internet consumers,” Paypal’s Regional director of Sub-Saharan Africa and Israel, Efi Dahan told VENTURES AFRICA.
Dahan added that the company had also learnt about how large and fast-growing the e-commerce sector in Nigeria is, which made it imperative for PayPal to ensure it offers the best services in the market and seek the kind of partnership it now has with FirstBank.
FirstBank spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney described the acceptance of FirstBank Cards for PayPal payments as “a significant boost to our continuous initiative to drive innovation in banking services and our promise to always put customers at the heart of our business.”
Reiterating the focus on e-commerce, Ani-Mumuney said the new partnership will make shopping online more convenient, with FirstBank cards accepted in more than 200 countries.
She also expressed delight at the bank’s ability to make PayPal services available to its customers in Nigeria in a partnership Dahan said would not be replicated with any other bank in the country.
FirstBank GMD, Bisi Onasanya also described PayPal as a worthy partner as the bank seeks to expand its scope in e-commerce and money transfer subsector.
With online purchases expected to increase to over $1 billion in 2014, FirstBank has staked a claim to penetrate the e-commerce market with its PayPal partnership and it is expected to become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the sector boom.
Millions of Nigerians already shop on websites in the US, UK or China, noted Dahan, “but many find their cards rejected or have concerns about entering their credit card details on the website of a seller based overseas.”
PayPal has however built a reputation of not sharing customers’ financial details with anyone, making it an easy choice for international retailers, as a major payment option.
PayPal has also ensured that their offerings are mobile friendly, an excellent tool to succeed in Nigeria, which ranks first in mobile subscription in Africa and 7th globally.
The new partnership is expected to foster the growth of the already robust e-commerce sector in Nigeria as fears associated with security of card details are minimised with a trusted local brand involved and customers can fund their PayPal accounts using FirstBank’s online banking platform.
FirstBank has the largest base of payment cards in Nigeria, with over 7.5 million subscribers. The bank also processes 34 percent of the banking industry’s electronic transactions. This is set to increase exponentially as the partnership with a globally trusted payment service provider has positioned FirstBank for further growth.
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